The American Revolution began in Lexington, Massachusetts with a skirmish on the town green. Following the confrontation with British troops at Lexington and Concord on Wednesday morning April 19, 1775, an alarm was immediately spread in every direction. Throughout New England, the news was rapidly carried by horse expresses from town to town.

Shrewsbury Historical Society honors its 128 citizens who answered the Lexington alarm with a bronze plaque attached to a boulder on the Town Green. In particular, it cites the officers in charge of the First Precinct Company, the Artillery Company and the Second Precinct Company.